Astronauts marvel at the narrow blue band of Earth’s atmosphere, glimpsed side-on from orbit. This is the place where we live: the atmosphere is the source of all the air we breathe and shields us from harmful radiation.

Though change is in the air, unfortunately ongoing human activity is altering the composition of the atmosphere, adding vast levels of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane, other trace gases and aerosols. Global warming is only one unwelcome consequence – its future effects still unclear – along with atmospheric ozone depletion, acid rain and pollution plumes that impact human health.

Space-based sensors help detect otherwise invisible changes, peering either sideways or down through the atmosphere to build up three-dimensional views of its chemical composition, sensitive to a few parts per billion.

ERS-2’s GOME tracked the polar ozone holes for more than 15 years, supplemented since 2002 by Envisat’s GOMOS and MIPAS. The same satellite’s SCIAMACHY sensor shows concentrations of carbon dioxide and other key greenhouse gases. Meanwhile imaging spectrometers – such as Envisat’s MERIS and Proba-1’s CHRIS – are sensitive to clouds and aerosols whose climate effects are yet to be fully quantified.

06 July 2017

With the Copernicus Sentinel-3A satellite fully fledged and its data freely available, the task of monitoring and understanding our changing planet has been made that much easier. Seeing the effect spring has on our plant life is just one of its many uses.

21 April 2017

Thanks to social media and the power of citizen scientists chasing the northern lights, a new feature was discovered recently. Nobody knew what this strange ribbon of purple light was, so... it was called Steve.

With the increased interest in supporting and monitoring the
implementation of international treaties on the World's Climate,
such as Kyoto, the work dedicated to the study of the full range of
variables is extensive.

The modelling of radiation processes are essential to our
understanding of the energy cycles between the land surface and the
atmosphere. In addition to which they provide an important input to
the planning of solar energy programmes.

The measurement of sea-surface wind vectors are operationally input
to meteorological models and to shipping routing forecasts. In
addition there is a growth in the request to support renewable
energy projects such as wind farms.